Joint replacement and allergies.

[grannypip]

I apologise in advance for how long this post may become but I would value your views on this as I'm quite worried now. Over the past few years I have had both knees replaced due to extreme pain caused by having no cartilage left in them and bone rubbing bone. Before having the first one done I explained to the surgeon that I was concerned about knee replacement because I am allergic to some metals though not entirely sure which ones except for nickel and possibly titanium( I once had titanium specs which caused a rash down the sides of my face.) He assured me that this wasn't a problem as allergies do not affect deep tissue like they do the surface of your skin. I trusted him and went ahead with both knees. Now a couple of weeks ago my sister in law who also has a metal allergy and is 81yrs old( but you'd never guess) had a nasty fall and smashed her shoulder. She told every doctor she saw for two weeks from day one that she had a metal allergy but they didn't seem to be bothered. The day before her planned shoulder replacement op her surgeon came to discuss it with her and cancelled the op when he heard about the allergy, for skin tests to be done. It will now be another two weeks before they decide if she will have the op and it may be that they do nothing and leave her with a smashed shoulder and useless arm because of her allergy. I told her surgeon what mine had told me and he disagreed. As you can imagine I'm now very worried for both of us. Which surgeon is right? I also thought I'd heard somewhere that there were alternatives to metal joint replacements eg: ceramic or would they consider that too costly because of her age? Also if my implants were a problem would it show up on x Ray? There are so many questions whizzing round my head. Help!!!!

[lou1063]

Hopefully as time has elapsed since your ops you will not have any adverse effects, it does leave me wondering why all consultants are not on the same page when it comes to information no wonder you have worry and confusion. I wish you and your sister well xx

[TheAuthor]

I am so genuinely sorry to read and I want to gneuinely wish you all the best of luck. Maybe you could make a complaint to PALS about this?

All my hopes and dreams for you

Ken